Bat Vinyl & CDs

Review: French producer duo Dub Shepherds team up with Clermont-Ferrand vocalist Junior Roy for a nine-track set that follows the traditional showcase format: each vocal cut is paired with its dub. The A-side opens with 'Trodding On Jah Road' and 'Start a Revolution', both built on heavyweight rhythms and restrained instrumentation. Roy's delivery is clean and direct, rooted in 80s-style cadences without overplaying the retro angle. 'Fittest (Discomix)' stretches the format slightly, offering a longer vocal-to-dub transition. Side B begins with 'Problems' and its dub version, again prioritising balance over effects. 'Run' leans into a looser melodic structure, while the dub flips it into a more echo-driven space. The overall mix i handled by Jolly Joseph and Doctor Charty i keeps the low end upfront, but avoids excess. The dubs are labelled "Hardmix", though the approach stays disciplined: no over-saturated FX chains, just clean edits and steady pressure. A solid roots release from a studio clearly comfortable in its identity.

Review: Noel Phillips aka. Echo Minott opens up the Mango Tree Showcase with a rallying cry to conquer Babylon. Such a claim encapsulates the vibe of this record, one of several to grace and immortalise the Dub Master Clash project: a 2016 concept that saw and heard several dub producers "battle it out", so to speak. A solid friendship was thus born between the Jamaican and the young Clermont-Ferrand producers; and from these so-called "reverb and echo clashes" came the first 12" maxi of the series, 'This World Is Inna Mess'. You don't hear that one here, though: instead, the Dub Shepherds have since met with Echo Minott, who greeted them at the Bat Records studio with a further bagful of dubs and roots from the time - all of which make up the Mango Tree showcase.